RISE Manchester - Barclays/MMU AR Day

skignz were invited to speak at a recently held event in the Rise building on Deansgate in Manchester.  

The event was organised by Barclays and MMU (Manchester Metropolitan University) to showcase the progress being made in Augmented Reality Technology, what sectors its being applied in and how?

The speakers ranged from University Professors & Doctors about their research, through to a few commercial applications and the leaders of those projects. 

skignz was one of the few totally 'commercial application' however it seemed skignz could cover just about ALL the areas the other speakers had, as well as proving and solving a few problems/issues that were raised prior to Si presenting.

skignz had been invited to speak, and Co-Founder & CMO Si Brown was excited about the opportunity. 

The presentation went really well, with gasps of approval from the audience as Si went through the possibilities of AR technology and more specifically our own skignz technology.

Throughout the day, the opportunities to showcase skignz on a one to one level were fulsome, and Si explained 
“It’s really important for skignz to be represented at these types of events.  Although smaller in their size than some of the others, they are just as important and worthwhile to the team here at skignz.

Especially as it gives those involved in Augmented Reality from Commercial, Educational and Research areas, the opportunity to meet up discuss progress, current issues and future potential all for the mutual benefit."

Later Si was invited to take part in a 'panel discussion' accompanied by a representative from the tech team from Barclays and two Academics from MMU. 

It proved to be a lively debate with many questions being posed by the audience, bringing conflicting opinions in part mainly around the difference between the commercial sector and the world of academia. 

However there was quite a unified opinion on the immediate and long term futures of AR. All agreed it would be more beneficial working together, but the mechanics of how that would work would need to be overcome.

The real issue, being around whether the Universities and Academics could respond and work at the pace that the commercial/private companies required in order to maintain momentum and stay at the forefront of AR technology marketplace.

For further information on RISE Manchester please visit: https://thinkrise.com/manchester.html

For further information on MMU (Manchester Metropolitan University) please visit: http://www2.mmu.ac.uk

And as always for further information on skignz then please visit us on the usual Social Media channels or drop us a line info@skignz.com

WebSummit Dublin 2015 - A Reflection on our experience

It's been 10 days now since we returned home after WedSummit in Dublin, Ireland.

We certainly needed some of that time to recover, but we have used the last few days to reflect an our whole experience from both skignz being at a big exhibition/conference as an 'Alpha Company', through to what we felt was good & bad from an event point of view?

Let's get the bad out of the way and focus on the positives. These are only really nitty gritty things that we felt that we would like to change:

#1. We only had our 'Alpha Stand' for one day, we would have preferred at least two days. WebSummit is now that big with over 42k people attending that after we had the stand on the first day, we didn't really have a base or somewhere we can direct people to to come and talk to us.

#2. the opportunities to meet the investors was limited as they chose who they wanted to see and only one of the ones we saw was worth the meeting.

Most of the success we had meeting VC's was at other events and through introductions from our own bank and other contacts.

#3. Using the chat on the app was great prior to the event but once the event started, many people weren't replying in time, setting up meetings became difficult due to clashes and delays, "if only there was a way to identify them and would alert you when you were close, so at least you can say hello and put a face to a name (If only hey ;-))."

Like we said above the above are nitty gritty stuff, that can be taken on board by WebSummit as they progress, as all feedback is good even if it's a little bit uncomfortable at the time, but as a growing brand and organisation, listening to your customers is key to your future success.

Positives... for this we maybe have too many to mention but feel it was not only the opportunity that WebSummit presents, the types of people attending and the quality of your offering. for us though what was key was the dynamic of the team we took with us, the approach as in early mornings and late nights. 

Engaging people during the day, with either preset meetings, chatting to the next table over lunch or mixing with Many different people during the 'Night Summits and Pub Crawls'.

 

David Murphy (Head of Sports Partnerships at skignz) thought the Pub Crawl on the first night was excellent for him personally, as the four of us were broken up into different places, making us engage people and not just go to the opening event as a group. 

By the time we all met up afterwards, we already had a number of different people to speak to, interested parties for partnerships and an overwhelming positive response to skignz itself. 

He said after the second day that the night before was fantastic as it helped him find his feet with regards to explaining skignz and how it could work in a multitude of scenarios, so much so that on the Tuesday, he felt he went straight in, was quick and efficient with his explanation and demonstration of skignz to everyone who he spoke to, as well as finding ways to relate to each of them personally.

This continued for the next 3 days for all of us. We have met some wonderful people from all corners of the earth, some we may not do business with but will certainly stay in contact with as we are sure we can help each others companies going forward, even if we may not do business with each other.

The key for us was that we never spoke to anyone who did not see either a fit for skignz with them professionally or personally. Not many startups or tech companies can say that. This is actually the overall response we get from anyone who sees skignz for the first time.

From us placing skignz all over Dublin to help everyone at WebSummit find their hotels, the venues, even the toilets, refreshments and various stages; right through to the partner bars for the 'Pub Crawl's and Night Summits' to places of interest. 


 The corridor of sponsor skignz ran from the train and taxi ranks right to the main gate of the RDS. But only those who knew about skignz, had the app could see this information.

We spoke to a number of people who actually worked for WebSummit and fed back what we were constantly hearing - "Why isn't this part of the Web Summit offering? If we all had skignz it would be easier to find people after using chat".

Lets hope the connections we have made and discussions held throughout WebSummit and hopefully in the coming weeks, can make this a reality not only for next year's WebSummit in Lisbon, Portugal, but also for the other events they organise such as RISE, COLLISION & ONE.

We will obviously update you on our progress and also the other similar tech events across the globe who have approached us to work with them. 

Who knows, within the next 12-18 months every major tech/brand/mobile event like WebSummit you attend, will be 'skignzed up' for your convenience and even further enhance your overall experience.

In summary we had a very positive experience with WebSummit but it's like anything, you get out of it what you put into it. 

Plan, Plan and Plan some more, have a very clear idea of what you aim to achieve and what is required, and execute your plan....

For Further information on WebSummit and their other associated events across the globe, please visit: https://websummit.net

And as always for further information on skignz then please visit us on the usual Social Media channels or drop us a line info@skignz.com